The campaign to keep Scotland in the UK has taken the most votes so far in the Scottish independence referendum, as counting continues across the country.

With 26 out of the 32 council areas having declared, the "No" side is on 54% of the vote, with the "Yes" campaign on 46%.

By 05:10 BST (06:10 GMT), the "No" campaign had more than 1,397,000 votes, with "Yes" on just over 1,176,000.

A total of 1,852,828 votes is needed for victory in the referendum.

Glasgow, Scotland's largest council area and the third largest city in Britain, voted in favour of independence by 194,779 to 169,347, with Dundee, West Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire also voting "Yes".

But Aberdeen City voted "No" by a margin of more than 20,000 votes, while there have also been big wins for the pro-UK campaign in several other areas.

Polling expert Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University said the results so far suggested the "No" campaign was going to win the referendum.

Image copyrightNewslineImage caption
Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond is en route to the national counting centre in Edinburgh

Clackmannanshire was first to declare, with "No" winning by about 2,600 votes.

Inverclyde voted "No" to leaving the United Kingdom by only 86 votes.

Voters in the Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland and Midlothian also voted against independence, as did local authorities including Stirling, Falkirk, East Lothian, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire.

Counting will carry on through the night, with the final result expected after 06:30 BST on Friday.

Media captionClackmannanshire was the first council to declare its result

Blair McDougall, director of the Better Together campaign to keep Scotland in the UK, said: "We think there will be a clear 'No' vote tonight.

"I think the results we have seen now from places like Clackmannanshire - which is an SNP stronghold - are encouraging."

Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, a supporter of independence, said it was clear that there remained a "real demand for change" in Scotland, and said the onus was now on the "No" parties to bring forward proposals for further devolved powers.

She added: "This has been a wonderful campaign but tomorrow we must move forward as one country".

Image copyrightAP

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who has led the "Yes" campaign, has flown from his home in Aberdeenshire to the national counting centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

He had earlier tweeted: "This has been a remarkable day. Scotland's future truly is in Scotland's hands",

A YouGov on-the-day survey published shortly after polls closed suggested "No" was on 54% and "Yes" on 46%.

The survey questioned 1,828 people after they voted, together with the postal votes of 800 people, although it is not a traditional exit poll.

A "Yes" vote in the ballot would end the 307-year-old union between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Analysis: Brian Taylor, BBC Scotland political editor

The first three results are a hat-trick for the Better Together side but they are three of the smallest council areas in Scotland.

In terms of Shetland, they weren't notably keen on devolution in the first place, so it is no great surprise that they are not exactly giving a resounding endorsement to the concept of independence.

Of the three results, of course, the Clackmannanshire result is far and away the most significant in that it was an area that perhaps should have been doing rather better for the "Yes" side.

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